FrivYeti/ShogunateCulture
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Culture Of The Shogunate
Over the five hundred years since the Usurpation, the values and ideals of the Terrestrial Exalted have spread throughout the Shogunate. While this culture can vary drastically from province to province, certain core concepts tend to exist throughout, cultivating certain similarities of practice and belief that leave this era the most unified of all of Creation's history.
Virtues And Ideals
The Shogunate values the Four Virtues, but filters them through the principle of Loyalty. The Dragon-Blooded were able to overthrow the Solars only because of their total devotion to one another, and to those below them. The Solars, by contrast, forgot their duties and abandoned loyalty to those they were responsible to, forcing the Dragon-Blooded who had once served them to rise against them. The Shogunate refuses to allow this to happen again. Loyalty affects the way that each Virtue is considered to be valued and the way in which the Virtues are capable of extremity.
With Compassion, the Shogunate values those who help and protect their fellows. The correct application of Compassion is considered to be a familial caring for all peoples, extending to helping them to become better people. It is, however, the least valued of the four Virtues in the Shogunate; it is valuable when tempered through Conviction or Temperance. Soldiers must be careful not to become weak-hearted; there are forces in Creation that would destroy it, and kindness or coddling of those forces weakens the structure of society. The Shogunate supports defense and love, but is generally opposed to excessive displays of mercy. The belief that anyone can be redeemed is generally considered foolish and naive.
